Red-faced Worty f***s up! (FORGOT TO SWITCH THE OIL ON)

[Worty]

Hey Worty, what about doing something with the magneto kill (earth) switch. Keep your current oil valve and maybe just replace the "touch off" magneto earth switch on the handlebars with a permanent on/off (ignition!) switch down by your oil valve?? would that work??

Hmm, good idea, although just wondering if that'd work out more or less the same cost as the maggy switch thingy?

[Swarfcut]

  The magneto cut out function linked to the on/off tap position is the reason for the higher price of this device compared to the simple tap from your local DIY store.  With my ever penny pinching outlook it would be an exercise to link the tap position to a switch.  Tap on, switch contacts open, magneto functions. Close the tap, no sparks. Even a spring blade opened by the tap lever position would do. Necessity being a mother etc. should be an easy project. Will also work as a crude anti theft device......

 Swarfy.

[BSA500]

I used the magnetos guys cut out oil tap and its one of the few items I've bought that actually does what it says on the can. And at £50 not too expensive. The worst that can happen is getting sweaty kicking it over(yes I have done that  ) when I have forgotten about it.

[Worty]

Mine is a similar arrangement to the Magneto Guys item, but half the price.

As someone suggested earlier, a good way to test the device after every run is to turn the tap off which should kill the engine.

These items are a really good back up device, but does not exclude the need for rider vigilance.  For example, what if the maggy earth wire becomes disconnected or broken - the bike could then be started with the oil off.  You could put this down to a 'Worty Worry', but it is possible (like me forgetting to put my oil reminders on the bike)

[BSA500]

Things happen. I had an oil pump fail first ride after an engine rebuild,lucky I only had to replace the mains bush. You just do the best you can

[paulmbsa]

i have the bri tie valve fitted to a lot of bikes fit and forget, just remember to bleed them whenever you drop the oil a minutes work fitted my first one in 1994

[Worty]

i have the bri tie valve fitted to a lot of bikes fit and forget, just remember to bleed them whenever you drop the oil a minutes work fitted my first one in 1994

Again, 'remembering' to bleed the valve!  The maggy switch valve I got off Ebay was the same as the Feked item, except £45 cheaper.  The fella who was selling it bought it new and never fitted it, lucky for me!

Just a quick question folks, is it absolutely necessary to have the cone fit into the oil tank feed, or can you simply screw on a 1/4" swivel fitting.  If so, it'll be the tank fitting to 3/8" BSP male into the valve body then 3/8" male to 1/4" male for the oil pipe to screw on to.  Of course, with the latter fitting, I'll need a female cone to be on the 1/4" fitting to accommodate the male cone oil pipe.

Anyone spot a mistake?

[Triton Thrasher]

fit and forget,

Unfortunate expression, in relation to engine destruction taps.

[RichardL]

Worty,

I realize the goal here, besides stopping wet sumping, is to save money. I also realize that what I say here is not going to change your mind about using a valve, but I still think it is worth saying. Assuming you are having this serious wet-sumping issue due to a well-worn pump, this pump, while serving for now, would be delivering a worse-than-original oil supply. It would continue to wear and, at some point, cross the threshold between adequate and inadequte supply. The reason for an SRM pump should not just be to stop the wet sumping. While nice (my bike sat all winter without a noticeable drop in level), I think the more important feature is better oil delivery at higher pressure. If your pump (for oil on the bike, that is) is in it’s golden years, the cost for a new pump will seem trivial if the old one gives up the ghost.

[RichardL]

One more thing. Interested to hear if my hypothesis has some support from the group.

Worty,

I realize the goal here, besides stopping wet sumping, is to save money. I also realize that what I say here is not going to change your mind about using a valve, but I still think it is worth saying. Assuming you are having this serious wet-sumping issue due to a well-worn pump, this pump, while serving for now, would be delivering a worse-than-original oil supply. It would continue to wear and, at some point, cross the threshold between adequate and inadequte supply. The reason for an SRM pump should not just be to stop the wet sumping. While nice (my bike sat all winter without a noticeable drop in level), I think the more important feature is better oil delivery at higher pressure. If your pump (for oil on the bike, that is) is in it’s golden years, the cost for a new pump will seem trivial if the old one gives up the ghost.

[Worty]

Appreciation to everyone for the helpful thoughts and suggestions - duly noted.

I get the comments about the condition of the oil pump, but tank return is excellent so I have few worries there.  Also, even with a fooked engine, Bergs did comment that a lot of the original damage was probably caused by disintegration of the ATD fibre gear than oil starvation per se.  I know that Bergs took a lot of time checking out the pump (and three other pumps I supplied to him) to find the best one for the bike.

One other thing to consider is that this is the 'last chance saloon' for this engine.  The crank is on its last regrind, the bores are +60 and only had new rings on the rebuild, the valves have damage at the top of the stems and the valve seats are not perfect by any means.  The timing side plain bearing was custom made by MWAS, and the crank doesn't run 100% true.  Bergs communicated his concerns to me during the rebuild, and I accepted those on the basis that this may well be the last rebuild for this motor and could well outlast my riding days on it as well.

Had it been a far more looked after motor, and had plenty of life left in it in terms of rebuilds, I'd have certainly considered a new oil pump, etc, etc.  Having said that, if it had been a better motor, it probably wouldn't be wet sumping in the first place

[berger]

Worty apart from the srm pump HELPING to stop them wet sump the ball and spring play a major part in this problem as well and i think i mentioned your crankcases were in a bad state after being welded up. maybe i didn't hit a spare ball bearing hard enough to form a decent seat but looking down that little hole and the thread damage for the screw and the welding i knew this engine had seen a big hammer person and i thought if i hit it harder the case will break or it will smash the ball seat . as you say that engine is on it's last chance saloon can you remember the problem i had with crank locking up when the last top inside nut was nipped up? this because the cases were horribly distorted by welding. my cases on the berger build had to have the spigots welded up and machined to make the cases mate properly T&L engineering had to sort them because they were twisting when tightened up, this was before MWAS had done his new work shop and i had to blue things up with yours to find out where it was nipping up and scrape the edge of the bronze bearing. keep riding it as it is but don't forget to turn the oil on. 

[Worty]

I forgot about the distorted cases Bergs, that was a real PITA now I remember (something else I forgot).

Just so there's no confusion mate, I'd no expectations of it not wet sumping after the build.  I was just happy I'd got a very decent, well built, well engineered motor that runs really, really well.  Covered 2300 miles on it now with no issues at all.

[Rex]

Still probably in better condition than most of the old 25 quid nails still running in the late 1960s.